Heather Ales Alba

Brewed by Williams Brothers (Heather Ales)
Style: Traditional Ale
Alloa, Central, Scotland

(bottle) Hazy, orange to copper colour with a medium-sized tanned foamy head. Moderately sweet and (initially) slightly acidic fruit-accented aroma of berries and pears, accompanied by a distinctive flowery and almost ethereally and resiny piney touch. Sweet and slightly bitter flavour, medium to full bodied with a soft, almost creamy carbonation. Solid (cara-)malty base with light fruity notes and a blink of alcohol; dry-out effect towards the resiny spicy and malty finish with a tinge of alcohol coming out of the mask. Enjoyable and warming brew. 30.XI.09

Pours a cloudy cider like color with a small almost no white head. Aroma is quite strange. Besides the apparent oxidation, there are a lot of typical UK fruits, oh and some banana. An interesting caramel candy-like sweetness over just a hint of pine and peat earthiness. Flavor starts with a sweet fruit maltiness, super mellow and easy to just sit in the mouth. Gains some honey and sugary characters that are a bit cloying but seem fitting as a traditional beer. Finishes soft and without a whole lot of presence, some floral notes. Light to medium body and a super soft carbonation. So interesting and different you gotta respect that.

Bottle thanks to funkybrewster. Pours a murky glowing orange with a thin bubbly head. Aroma is sweet and malty, smoothly bready, similar to a weizenbock, fruity with a hint of spruce. Flavor is a bit sharper which is good, still somewhat similar to a weizenbock, bready with very light spruce notes, nicely balanced, bit fruity, banana. Medium bodied with fizzy carbonation that makes it nice and airy. The alcohol is quite nice.

smells, malty, fruity like strawberries like the other heather ales... theyre pretty similar to be honest (despite the apparent differences), also a little metallic. its red with no real lasting head. tastes very bitter, astringent, some kind of popcorny taste. its pleasant, but unbeery and very .. whatever. alcoholic burn feel (pleasant in my view actually). this was the one i was saving out of the 4 pack, as unstandout as the rest..

(bottle - 330 ml) Golden pour with a thin white head. Aroma has tons of pine and spruce notes mixing with a mild sweetness. Mainly the pine notes are dominant. Flavor begins sweet with a ton of spruce and pine notes. Mild middle with a very sweet and tangy finish with a flavor that I just couldn’t identify

33cl bottle, part of a gift set of 4 bottles of "Historic Ales", all by the Williams Bros. brewery. Pours a wee hazy deep amber, with a medium off-white head. Limited retention, decent lacing. Unusual aroma of sweet berries and citrusy resin, evidence of the pine and spruce fermented with the beer. Since I sell violins for a business, I know that smell. ;=) And, indeed, there’s a sea breeze there. Thick, rather creamy mouth feel in a medium-bodied "herbal ale" with very moderate carbonation. Very nice drinking. Resin is also very noticeable in the taste, but in a good way. Berry flavour and resin are evidently a good match, with sweet, bitter and citrusy notes equally vying for attention. Some honey in there, too. Finish is rather "neutral", with a wee resinous after taste that’s very pleasant. Well, they use wood for the fermentation of wine, so why not use it in beer, too? Unique, well-crafted, eminently quaffable specialty brew that comes in too-small bottles.

Bottle. Poured dark orange with medium white head. Aroma of pine, smelled like a blerrie Christmas tree. Sweet taste, pine, resin and sugar. Sweet finish. I will sip this, and limit myself to one. It’s good, but rather too sweet for many

Bottle. I really like the beers from the William Brothers. This one tastes and smells just like the name. But this is a good thing. This is a great winter time beer. Maybe even a holiday one. Brown colored ale with a light head. Great stuff. Should be experienced.